My aim was to Twitter, Qik and Flip my way through the event – and work out which method was best.

…So what’s the conclusion about the modern reporter’s toolkit? Well, a laptop with a wi-fi or 3g connection seems pretty essential, whether to send reams of text or the odd 140 character Tweet. A mobile phone with an instant video application can get you out of a hole when there’s no alternative. But I’d be reluctant to go anywhere without the services of a professional, wielding a decent video camera. As I think you’ll agree if you look at my pictures.

I am working on an alternative approach to (local) event coverage. I hope to use my electric bike as a WiMax-fed, mobile Wi-Fi platform.

The idea is to provide any event with live coverage. A laptop and still camera would provide the basic story and pictures, supplemented with live video, text chat and embedded gigapixel panoramas.

An Android phone could be mounted on the bike handlebars (for text messaging and live video) while a GigaPan robotic camera would provide an “infinite zoom” for crowd shots. I might add a couple of Meraki repeaters to expand WiFi coverage.